The Complete High Guardian Spice Experience

[@eldritchabomination9726]

Could you imagine if part of Rosemarry's character was her revealing that her constant upbeat attitude is actually because when her mom went missing, she felt like she had to force a smile so she doesn't worry her family since they're already grieving, with her arc being allowing herself to be vulnerable and depend on others, as well as becoming her own person, eventually even switching to a different weapon

[@therealfriday13th]

See, that would require non-accidental competency.

[@quincyjones5676]

Rosemary is so clumsy I wouldn’t trust her with a spoon lol

[@c-puff]

It's not original but man if it isn't a storyline that WORKS.

[@Inky-Wells]

That actually could very well work, and this could also give the line where Rosemary says that they "don't have to be heroes for a while, just kids" during the fall festival a little more relevance to her character development.

[@Mylesledragon]

goddamnit thatd make her SOOOO much better!!!

[@justsomeartist8895]

Actually the more I think about Snapdragon’s Dad the more it bothers me. Snapdragon’s Dad is advocating *self defense* and we’re supposed to see that as toxic masculinity??? Especially when Caraway praised his students for using violence?! I’m sorry, but what is up with this insanely dangerous double standard that being an aggressor is bad but DEFENDING yourself from an aggressor is just as bad if not worse??? THAT’S the real toxicity, it literally benefits no one but abusers and bullies and expects people just to accept whatever abuse they face because any retaliation receives more condemnation than ACTUALLY ABUSING SOMEONE IN THE FIRST PLACE. I HATE IT.

[@sedrie34]

Literally the only place I’ve seen this happen irl is at public schools in the USA in regards to defending yourself against bullying. Literally everyone who has been in that situation or knows about it has agreed that it isn’t fair or logical to punish the victim for self defense so ofc leave it to this show to be like “this is a good policy actually”. Sickening

[@akisorax]

It would actually be a pretty damn nuanced take if the writers wanted to portray this lesson of self defense through the lense of an angst teen and say 'this was a valuable teaching moment that felt at the time like Snapdragon was being pressured into being violent and after events xyz she can look back at this as a harsh but fundamental lesson taught to her by a warrior in a dangerous world'. This would have a lot to say about Snapdragon's skewed perspective, help bolster the complete loss of her angsty teen archetype, and give her dad some nuance. But.

[@d.j.mulcahy1657]

I think a potential reason for this could be how amateur writers view heroism. For a lot of people, heroism isn’t really about defending yourself and others from an aggressor. Instead, it’s about being the strongest person in the room and lording your power over others. This is how we get Mary Sues and Gary Stus; characters who only exist so a writer can indulge in power fantasy. We see this in High Guardian Spice, where, instead of really using their skills to protect people, the students and the teachers mostly just hunt random animals and kill creatures for sport. The only times they ever fight the main villain is when the villain specifically targets them. Instead of seeing the characters actually be heroes, we see them mostly do aggressively strong stuff, such as Sage and the other characters with her magic and Rose with her random moments of competence. From what we see of guardians, they appear almost like arrogant trophy hunters out for fortune and glory, desperate to prove just how strong they are. While a lot of heroes are physically strong, it’s important to know that heroism isn’t about showing off your strength and it’s not about having “nice uses of violence”.

[@Aliceintraining]

@@sedrie34 yep, once I got suspended for a week in highschool as another kid in the lockerroom tried to wack me in the face with their shoes, so I did a leg sweep and knocked them to their butt. legit did not even start it, but got punished for defending myself, its so messed up.

[@Jokoko2828]

@@d.j.mulcahy1657 The topic of what makes one a hero and heroism in general is something that's far too complex to deal with for this bunch of writers.

[@mischadolly]

this show feels like daydreaming a bunch of different scenarios with your oc's, but if those scenes were ripped straight from your head fully animated and voice acted.

[@arachnozure]

even my ocs are better than this tbh

[@wessltov]

THANK YOU! That's exactly what I was thinking, and I probably would have done something similar if I was given control and a budget as a teenager

[@LWolf12]

I'd really hope my imagine was better than this though. Or at least more creative.

[@nyxcat3621]

True. I feel like they wanted to write likable characters and quirky situations so much that they forgot about the actual plot and didn’t flesh it out. If they had just tried to make it some slice of life show then I feel like it would be more successful, but as it stands it seems like the show just is not able to balance the plot/serious stuff with character moments. If that makes sense.

[@Nimbithefallen5326]

Exactly, I imagined stuff like this years ago with my own characters. That’s probably what Raye’s line of thought was.

[@darkmantlestudios]

Look, Rosemary's sudden shift in the final episode makes perfect sense. She killed the dragon, so she got all the xp, and went up a few levels really quickly.

[@andre_601]

Yeah. That's why she wanted to give the final blow. She wanted to take all these level ups for herself after Sage did all the work.

[@declanmckenna6854]

Imagine if this was one of those old school JRPG where the XP formula was calculated based on the number of successful attacks or damage actually dealt

[@seekingabsolution1907]

Heh. Brennan Mulligan Rant about combat based leveling systems "if you wanna get good at magic, people gotta die"

[@MaksProger]

It kinda fits with Rosemary's attitude to fighting (I watched the first episode only).

[@gokuxsephiroth4505]

I really feel like Rodriguez has a deep love for his OC's - and NO love for stories or storytelling. Honestly, there's nothing wrong with having OC's who only exist in cute fanart and tiny little wholesome or romantic scenes, but a show needs SO MUCH MORE than that, and usually, it involves one or more of your characters being deeply flawed to make it work (at least at the beginning), which I don't think he really wanted to do.

[@MeemahSN]

The way Sage is written could have made for a really interesting exploration of abusive friendships, and how not every toxic person realises how damaging they're actually being. If her relationship with Rosemary was established to be unhealthy right from the start, we could have gotten a really nice piece of character development, where Sage realises how harmful she's being and makes an effort to change (albeit failing and falling back on old behaviour at times), and Rosemary learns to enforce personal boundaries and not put up with abuse for the sake of friendship. If the creator was able to recognise Sage's biggest character flaw as a flaw, she could have been infinitely more compelling. In fact, I think her bitchiness would have been a lot more tolerable if the show actively condemned her actions and made her remorseful.

[@RealGateGuardian]

Raye is the typical Gen Z or whatever that was never told "This isn't good enough" as a child but was told "This is wonderful!" regardless of how chicken shit it is. I don't think Ray has bad ideas, I do know about the micromanagement caused my Crunchyroll, so they have their own share in why HGS failed. NGL, I think if he had ONE experienced writer as the head writer, I think HGS wouldn't have sucked so wildly.

[@angstmage]

Since the show writers really only care about shipping and they don't want us shipping Amaryllis and Snapdragon... I'm gonna ship them anyway. They're cute af together

[@Noteflunked]

That's such a power move

[@DarkVideogamer]

Honestly it's the writer's fault for writing such a strong power couple who compliment each other 🤷‍♀️

[@weaselthorpehouse4106]

Fucking based!

[@thomastakesatollforthedark2231]

Otp

[@patricklinford689]

I only wana ship them BECAUSE the writers are so against it.

[@axelvoss9653]

It says a lot about this show that even after watching the entire series and countless videos on it, I'd *completely forgotten* that Rosemary had a brother.

[@c-puff]

Don't worry, so did the writers.

[@axelvoss9653]

@@c-puff the writers forgot a *lot* of things like Chompy RIP Chompy she was the best character unironically

[@LifesNeverHumDrum]

I’m 3 and a half hours in and I completely forgot until seeing this comment

[@thomastakesatollforthedark2231]

I always forgot he wasnt Mandrake

[@robertfaulkkner5508]

Wait, is Chompy a girl?

[@Cousin_Uli]

Snapdragon should have had the Axe reforged into a Halberd. j/s, would have been a good symbolic representation of them not wanting to abandon ones roots, but also needing to be themselves. Thus altering the Axe into a long hafted dexterous weapon. The medium between the rapier and the axe.

[@c-puff]

wtf that's WAY too good of an idea!!!

[@eldritchabomination9726]

I was thinking that as well! It could've been such a lovely message

[@AtelierGod]

The whole interaction when the teacher comes up and just swaps the weapon’s between the two shows actual poor writing here, a teacher one whose supposed to teach you how to do your job basically went “Nah you no good good axe take this rapier” rather than teaching Snapdragon a training routine to actually use the axe while encouraging him to try other things as he might find better to his body type or personal desires, and Amaryllis could over hear and use the axe while he’s trying out different weapons.

[@MrAuthor3DS]

One thing I wanna ask to anyone claiming that the weapon swap is an obvious hint at the trans arc: why isn't Amaryllis a trans boy, then? She was part of that exchange, after all, giving up her "feminine" weapon for a "masculine" one.

[@WobblesandBean]

That's a good idea! I mean they say magic can do literally anything and Parsley is a blacksmith, so it wouldn't be hard to do.

[@CarissaNomadic]

I think the worst part of the show was the nonunion thing. That's.. actually bad. Extremely bad. Crunchy Roll should be absolutely roasted over the fact that they supposedly support anime industry, but that they support working conditions that enable such extremely abusive behavior. CR is a huge unapologetic part of the problem, and HGS happily made itself an easy distraction with all the politics talk distracting from the servere problematic issues

[@c-puff]

As a 2D animator watching Disney refuse to do 2D because 3D animators are non-union..... This tho 👆

[@seekingabsolution1907]

So do you think CR deliberately underfunded a generally ill fleshed out project as a way of throwing a proverbial dead cat on the table?

[@scatmanjohnfan22]

"A mixed bag of good information and every slur that exists" is the perfect way of describing kiwifarms, lol

[@c-puff]

It's a wretched hive of scum and villainy and the best hub of information on certain topics. They've forgotten more horrors than I have ever known.

[@owenleal]

I mean Kiwifarms was literally founded to harass and bully a mentally ill man and chronicle every second of his life, so it makes sense that it would be a scummy site.

[@h.w.4482]

@@c-puff god I love kiwifarms

[@LegendaryDorkKnight]

Damn, I gotta check them out then. I thought the "Ethnic Slurs" Wikipedia page was enough,

[@schoo9256]

Genuinely the only place for obsessively archived dirt on your favourite creator who is probably, provably, a monster. And also full of slurs. It's like the internet in its purest form. Somehow people from all political opinions manage to coexist there though, it's bizarre. Brought to you by the power of autism(TM) I guess.

[@justsomeartist8895]

Honestly I think Snapdragon’s story would have worked better if Snapdragon were a trans man whose Dad and brothers were actually 100% supportive, and that’s actually the problem. They keep including him in traditionally masculine things under well intentioned encouragement and Snapdragon feels bad because he still prefers traditionally feminine things. Not only would that work far better in a setting where LGBT/queer people are so accepted and normalized, but it would still be relevant to IRL trans people who deal with gender nonconformity/the topic of passing.

[@stellabelikiewicz1523]

I would love to see a well written version of that direction for the story! It sounds pretty delightful 😁

[@drago3036]

Damn, the more i think about it the more ABSOLUTELY AMAZING your idea seems. Snapdragon did bother me somewhat, and i wasn't able to put my finger on why until now: from a writing perspective, considering all characters presented in the show, it just reinforces rigid ideas about masculinity and femininity. "Oh, of course snapdragon is supposed to be a girl, because they like girl things!". There is nothing wrong with a person feeling if that's what works for them, but when they had the opportunity to write something SO much more interesting that could serve as support to ANY gender-non-conforming person, it just baffles me.

[@BobMcBobJr]

Snapdragon never really struck me as transgender in the show. It seemed more like he was a thin, somewhat effeminate boy with insecurity over his much more well built and masculine father and brother (and the brother bullying him) that everyone, including the writers, kept trying to railroad down the transgender path instead of the suave, dashing character that he could grow into with a bit of confidence building and pazazz. i see an older Snapdragon as a Flynn Rider (from tangled) type character. Obviously I know the writers wanted him to be transgender but it didn't come off that way to me until I knew the writers. I also agree that with the potions in this world, I'd expect at least half of the population to have tried out being the other gender for at least a month just out of curiosity if nothing else.

[@FurKid_the_Gg_roo_99]

Ooh! That's a neat route that would be nice to see! I got my own idea for a rewritten Snapdragon: she's girlflux (genderfluid but only fluctuates in the girl side of the gender spectrum), but fears transitioning because she fears about what people would think of her about which magical way to transition (to put it simply/without info-dumping about the rewritten magic system). Oh, & no transphobic antagonists or rivals! Snap's dad would be overall supportive, & the ones that "push" Snap through her arc, her brother & Cal, would only come off as/be jerky to her over the magical dilemma that is how Snap will transition; shapeshifting should be a normal thing in this fantasy world, & the "being yourself despite prejudice" arc thing is (I'm pretty sure) an overdone trope for LGBTQ+ characters, so I just scrapped those elements for more magical stuff. This just goes to show that there's multiple, better ways of doing this character, but HGS just didn't do any of that.

[@kchio_]

youre smart asf omg

[@sebsational123]

This is the EXACT kind of breakdown I wanted to see. You gave the show a really fair chance without pulling any punches; you dug deep into the plot (or lack thereof) and analyzed exactly why things didn't work; and you brought up the over reliance on queer visibility without it devolving into a homophobic/transphobic rant! Absolutely stellar content!

[@area52ron]

The way Sage treats Rosemary and sometimes other people reminds me of Chloe and how she treats Max and her own parents in the game Life is strange

[@georgemeyers7172]

Oof.

[@LifesNeverHumDrum]

Oooh you’re right

[@justsomeartist8895]

Okay ONE MORE THING. You already talked about how Snapdragon turning out to be a trans woman made Sage’s Toxic Masculinity moment even worse, as it’s now Sage being criticized and portrayed as wrong for being unintentionally transphobic rather than because she’s being incredibly sexist. But I just realized, it also throws male/female friendships under the bus. Snapdragon being a trans woman indirectly makes her friendship with Amaryllis foreshadowing, because, according to the show, if Snapdragon were a guy “his” friendship with Amaryllis wouldn’t be nearly as strong as it clearly is because “he” wouldn’t talk or be open about “his” feelings. So add another element of “ew” to Sage’s raging sexist moment, since it also indirectly reinforces the idea that men and women can’t have deep friendships.

[@gidofter_lukge]

Guess that the proper way to fix this is to make Sage not say that rant. And add more male characters who are decent guys and actually affect the plot.

[@lou9635]

@@gidofter_lukge She could still do it, but the show needs to: - Make Sage a supertisous girl. - Add another guy hear it and be hurt - Show guys having strong friendship (broship is so good!)

[@seekingabsolution1907]

​​@@gidofter_lukgees but that might require more than one man on staff with a different idea of what constructive masculinity is or at least a none man with a good understanding of the masculine experience and those are hard to find. Better to assume all men are trash.

[@0Rikkitikki0]

@@gidofter_lukge I think they ran out of plant names for dudes so never bothered.

[@sassyimps]

I still stick by the idea that Snap should have just been a highly effeminate dude. I feel like, with a preexisting trans character in Caraway it was a missed opportunity to have more subtle and nuanced degrees of diversity. And I get that they wanted to show both a character who has already transitioned alongside a character who is mid-transition, but why not just have episodes dedicated to Caraway's past, showing how he dealt with his identity growing up. You know. Showing rather than telling. It's just disappointing to me, personally.

[@shprungus]

As soon as I heard “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme” I knew they got the names from the song, instead of realizing the song can be used. I knew this because the names of the characters in High Guardian SPICE are all named after HERBS

[@johnoconnell5004]

They should've called it High Guardian Herb.

[@midnight4685]

@@johnoconnell5004 Lmao, sounds like a show about smoking a certain substance. Sounds like the show would be better than this, though.

[@danemr6808]

Herbs are spices. Spice has an annoyingly broad definition. Carrots are a spice.

[@midnight4685]

@@danemr6808 No, they are different. The most basic spice definition includes it, but the actual spice definition excludes it. Herbs are leafy parts of plants used for flavouring, spices are every other part of a plant, though there is some debate whether flowers are herbs or spices. Leaves certainly aren't, though. Some argue that it's whether it's dried or not (which I disagree with), but even in that case, they aren't called 'dried Thyme'. Parsley is not a spice, nobody would call it one, neither are the other names. Here are some of the explanations of the differences that I found online: "An herb is the green, leafy part of the plant. Examples are basil, rosemary, sage, thyme, parsley, and oregano. A spice can come from the root, stem, seed, fruit, flower or bark of the tree or plant. Examples are cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, star anise, and turmeric." "A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish." "In broad terms both herbs and spices come from plants but herbs are the fresh part of the plant while spice is the dried root, dried stalk, seed or dried fruit of the plant and is almost always dried not fresh." There are plenty more. Even if you wanted to say that all herbs are technically spices because they're plants that flavour food, you would call the HGS characters a herb before a spice, like sure you can call squares rectangles but that doesn't mean I'd call my show about squares 'high guardian rectangles'.

[@danemr6808]

@@midnight4685 spice noun 1. an aromatic or pungent vegetable substance used to flavor food, e.g. cloves, pepper, or cumin. "enjoy the taste and aroma of freshly ground spices" You'd call it "High Guardian Rectangles" if you wanted more characters that "High Guardian Squares" would allow.

[@draconis17]

in defense of Aster getting Rosemary's name wrong, that was his first day at school. As someone bad with names, I really don't blame him for not remembering it- he even managed to remember that it started with R and was the name of a plant (I know almost everyone is named after a plant but they don't acknowledge that in universe). The reason why it's not his fault for the rest of the episode is because Rosemary AGREES that her name is Rhubarb. After that, he remembers what she told him and addresses her as such. That's why it's completely understandable to me that he even goes "are you sure?" when she finally corrects him at the end, because he knows she told him her name was Rhubarb. That whole thing was Rosemary's fault.

[@rocbenaa1963]

Agree. I also have problems remembering names.

[@inkylynx2777]

Man, I heavily relate to this. I always get people's names _slightly_ wrong. Was it Julie? No, it was _Jolie._ Shannon? _Sharon._ Harry? _Terry._ This isn't intentional! I just can barely remember someone's name properly!

[@henryconner3002]

Yeah honestly I think Aster’s literal problem was that, he’s an idiot. It’s not like he’s Cal where he deliberately decided to be cringe, Aster was just slightly rude one time and then his foot was broken. My man deserves justice he just transferred and he got unlucky to be with someone who’s friends with the most toxic person in the show

[@nvfury13]

I have an issue with names as well, it can be months before I remember any names but the names of babies.

[@georgeray1906]

I had moments where I can't remember a person's name and needed to ask said person for their name so there's nothing wrong with it just as long as you don't ask rudely or condescending.

[@Prophet_of_Puns]

I don’t know if I already said this or not on a different video but I feel like the Magic System could have been salvaged if they reversed the power dynamic for Old and New Magic. Like imagine if Old Magic was the vastly more powerful and unstable power while new magic was much weaker but had better handling and control but the story’s framework of it remained the same. New Magic could be framed as “The Everyman’s magic” and would explain why the academy puts so much focus on it. I feel like the scene with the dragon being killed would of been a lot more impactful if it was genuinely Sage’s fault it died; As it stands now her inability to control new magic with zero guidance from her teachers robs her of most if not all accountability. Imagine if she tried restraining the dragon with the weaker new magic first and then out of frustration and desperation she decides “You know what screw this! I read about a sleep spell for dragons and I actually know how to cast old magic!” But then as a twist it turns out the spell was to “Put Dragons to sleep” as in “Kill them.” It would make for a crazy “Holy shit” moment and even though she didn’t expect that to happen it’s still her fault because she was tapping into dangerous power arrogantly without a hint of precaution. It’s an emotional gut punch AND it cements to the audience why the magic system is taught the way it is at the academy. What do you all think? Would that work or am I missing something in this rewrite? Genuine question as I may end up using something like that in my own story to some degree :)

[@Crystalgate]

That would have worked. That said, the idea HGS had with new magic being stronger and easier to use than old magic, but causes the rot would also have worked if the writers had developed the idea. When it comes to the dragon incident, the writers just needed to actually make it Sage's fault. Many ideas would have worked, but any idea requires the writers to run with it and develop it rather than just doing whatever they feel like for the moment. So, your idea would not have salvaged the Magic System because frankly, no idea would have in the hands of those writers. I do however think your idea is good and could make for excellent story in other shows.

[@nekonomicon2983]

Yeah, the magic power system as it stands in the show is completely broken and unbalanced. New magic being used to ease users into old magic would have been a much better compromise, and it could work well with Sage's character. If there was one thing I would've changed, it would be to make Sage terrible at old magic. Make it so Sage wants to live up to her mother's legacy of being a great healer or just interested in magic in general but inexperienced.

[@VasiliyOgniov]

We must be on the same train of thought. This was exactly the question I've been asking for the entire show. Why not make New Magic external and Old Magic internal? New Magic would then be used even by non-mage and maybe even mass-produced, like enchanted weapons, magic items, garments or even full-on magic-powered robots. However generally those things would tend be less powerful, created specifically for one or two purposes and had some sort of "charge" which would deplete over time. Old Magic on the other hand would use the power of user himself which would take a toll on their health and stamina, maybe even taking off a couple of years of their life, in exchange for being much more versatile and powerful. It just makes a lot more sense to me that "traditional" magic would be much more primal and dangerous while "modern" magic would take a more rational and cautious approach. My own grudge for the show is the lack of enchantments. It would make much more sense if Guardians would wield flame-bringing swords, shoot arrows which would froze enemies cold or use their weapons to command the elements around them. Most of the classes we had seen are combat or magic-focused yet writers almost never try to fuse the two together. For me it seems only logical to try and combine the two

[@Jormundgandr-jg5xg]

Like the chaos and normal magic from darksouls? That is actually a great idea

[@targetdreamer257]

I just love how other people come up with fixes for systems the the writers themselves don’t even care to flush out. Yeah sure they had a limited budget, limited time, hindsight of every one after blah blah blah. The fact is the writers chose to include something that they didn’t do any thing with and yet they included other things just show where the priorities were.

[@lepreking]

It screams that the creator never learned to "kill his darlings."

[@stargazer1778]

"Permanently trans your gender" actually made me laugh so hard. I'm gonna share this with my trans friends, they'd love your videos

[@seekingabsolution1907]

​@eggsbenedictcucumberpatchif magic could make me a scaly fire blooded dragon man or a cute slime girl nothing and noone could stop me from being both at least once a week. Also I would like to be a tree but, like, temporarily. Sitting with roots in the ground snacking on sunbeams sounds relaxing. Just inhale and exhale, transforming inorganic carbon into sugar, imagine being able to do that, flipping plants man, the only thing we have on them is brains.

[@grandarkfang_1482]

​@eggsbenedictcucumberpatch now that would be an interesting story in this setting; what happens if someone whose so used to changing what they look like doesn't like how they normally look? Or, if all the constant magic flowing through them damaged their body and made unable to change back into their original form, only changing into whatever they've seen?

[@runedragon1985]

10:36 No one knows what a Guardian is, or what a guardian does. But everyone knows they want one, or want to be one. Basically, a Guardian is an Apple product, or a TikTok Influencer.

[@lindseylindsey9200]

From what I can gather, though I haven’t watched it, they could have used the word knight and it would not only be more descriptive and informative, but also defy gender norms with how knighthood has historically been an almost exclusively male thing, at least to my knowledge

[@CompSomAnichi]

@@lindseylindsey9200 High Knight Spice doesn't have teh same ring to it though. /j

[@KelShu]

The problem with Thyme's conflict is that we saw her be mad only at her mom for taking her out of the Fairy Woods, but ultimately the mom did nothing wrong; the trees were being corrupted by the Rot, food was becoming scarce, and they had no solution for stopping it, *both* of the parents decided the best thing they could do in that situation is to send their daughter (who couldn't do anything if she'd stayed) to another kingdom for her well-being. Thyme isn't being fair to their perspective, especially her mom's.

[@MrAuthor3DS]

Here's my biggest problem with Thyme in general: she keeps the Rot problem secret for no real reason. Why wouldn't she want the faculty of High Guardian Academy to know (under the assumption that they're competent, of course)? Does she think it's not their problem, even though it's already appearing in Lyngarth? ...And on a related note, why did she think the school was already "crawling with spies" when Olive only said that they would be on their way? That's just a stupid excuse to do nothing as usual.

[@KelShu]

@@MrAuthor3DS If she had just stopped being angsty and reclusive for one day and told her mom or professors about the Rot sooner, the situation would have been easier to resolve. Also, shouldn't the Guardians be well aware of the Rot at this point? I'm pretty sure the situation in the Fairy Woods is known publicly, even if Olive silences the girls, that's not gonna keep the Rot situation secret in the grand scheme of things.

[@schwarzerritter5724]

@@MrAuthor3DS And for that matter, why aren't any of the other elves who had to flee searching for a solution? At the very least, someone had to wonder where al the refugees are coming from.

[@JayRedGear]

And her plan was really dumb. She apparently forgets that the location of the healing water isn't closed off and isn't that far away. But she only gets a small bottle of them and when it was destroyed, she thinks it is a good idea to contact a demon so it can Skype call her dad so she can give her dad the recipe to replicate the healing water formula. She's honestly making this situation with the rot harder by doing this.

[@andre_601]

To be fair: When does a child ever understand the reasoning of their parent? How many times have we, as children, complain about the unfair decisions our parents made for us, only to then later realize it was for our own good?

[@golden1206]

thyme apologizing to sage for saying “yeah” is so fucking funny. like that whole exchange was fucking hilarious. “yeah” “yeah???” “uh… yes..” *sage runs away crying* like yooooo

[@Nr4747]

Well, to be fair, she was agreeing with someone roasting Sage, so the scene still made some sense. It was still terrible dialogue and they probably shouldn't have picked a topic the school bully was actually right for pointing out Sage's faults about.

[@lou9635]

@@Nr4747 She wasn't. She was distracted all along and just want to have lunch. She didn't understand why Sage was so difficult when clearly Amaryllis could have done it for her. Edit: Especially when Thyme saw her in the morning training herself to use new magic. Thyme can't understand why Sage has a tantrum now.

[@DarthZ01]

i was sent by the rich girls insult "watch your posture, you look like an invertebrate"

[@seekingabsolution1907]

Like an exaggerated spoof of a school drama.

[@catscanhavelittleasalami]

I unironically LOVE this dialogue

[@naolucillerandom5280]

See, usually when people ask if I'll turn my little document full of characters and worldbuilding into an actual show or comic, I say "nah I have no sense of storytelling". Now I'll just say "remember high guardian spice?"

[@lancerguy3667]

While that IS true, a sense of storytelling is a honed skill, more than a talent. If creation with your worlds and characters is something that interests you, trying to craft a story, while just accepting you're going to suck at it for a while, is a fine and natural part of the creative process. Just... y'know... don't let Crunchyroll turn your first attempt into a big animated spectacle that draws tens of thousands of eyes.

[@Yobikir]

yeah, remember high guardian spice? It succeeded in becoming a show, while I didn't even try.

[@naolucillerandom5280]

@@lancerguy3667 that is a good point, and a fair warning

[@MeemahSN]

@@Yobikir But if that show is so bad, literally everyone and their dog can do a better job, is it really worth having your name attached to it?

[@Chimly_Stonefoot]

“She asked you, ‘Is -being trans- all that matters to you?’ And you say, ‘what else is there?’ ?! You should write a book, how to insult a -trans person- in five syllables or less.”

[@PlanetZoidstar]

Love the "Swan Princess" reference.

[@ApostolicSketches]

what irritates me about the old magic thing is that, in the last episode we realize that there were other old magic users. literally someone, an upperclassman even, could have been a mentor to Sage. Then the writers could show that gradual drift away from Rosemary and the festival argument could’ve made a little more sense because they haven’t spent a lot of time together, and they finally do, but they don’t have the same interests anymore. I think with that kind of storyline it could have redeemed Sage’s character, or at least made her not look like such a clingy weirdo.

[@schwarzerritter5724]

Thyme uses old magic, you would think that at least gives them something to talk about.

[@rocbenaa1963]

@@schwarzerritter5724 Yeah, but we only saw her use it once.

[@ViiWitchArt]

This show is actually a prime example of the lack of critiquing that was applied or allowed here. I went to an art college and after ever project, everyone in the class would present their art and the teachers along with the students would critique the work. This was fundamental for artist, not only learning the difference between critiquing and just saying you didn’t like something (having to fully explain your viewpoint in order to help the artist grow as the viewer), but the main focus was LEARNING to take the critiques. I had classmates like the creator of this show that would be so protective of their work, way too emotional when getting feedback, and completely missing the point of why they were being critiqued. They wouldn’t see that people were trying to help them grow, because when creating art such as a comic or story, you can accidentally get tunnel vision and not actually see what your audience would see. Critiquing would of actually helped so much with this show, being able to explain how they saw what the show was trying to do with sage vs how she was actually coming off as for example. But from the twitter responses, lack of accountability, and the final product, there was so critiquing done for this show. I believe the whole crew just heard a pitch and like it, because if they tried to calmly bring up a different viewpoint or explain why that pitch wasn’t effective for the show, they probably would of been branded as a meanie. As an artist, you must learn to take critiques. You must learn that you will mess up and adjust to what you make. You must be able to tell the difference between some who is genuinely trying to help you and productively critique your work in order to help you produce the best form of art then someone saying they don’t like something because it’s stupid. Criticism and bullying are two completely different things. And lastly, you must put your feelings aside when it comes to your characters. Artist love their projects, and they are their babies to them, but if you get too emotionally attach to your work you’ll never grow as an artist, and this show is a prime example of this. The best characters were the ones less cared for, and not even our main characters. Have full love for your project, but be prepared to adjust and change if needed. I hope lots of artist see this and learn from this, seeing how they can grow and improve their work! (Edited: Sorry wrote this response on my phone lol. Hope it helped by separating my response into paragraphs!)

[@PutineluAlin]

At the end of the day you as an artist try to communicate to a large amount of people a story / experience / lesson accepting the critique and adapting the work will help you reach farther than before. Having one vision will mean a niece start.

[@EmperorZelos]

If you do not love your project, it will show. But loving it is not an excuse to ignore critique. You can always get better.

[@WobblesandBean]

I couldn't get past the first two lines cuz I can't read huge text walls without paragraphs, but as a fellow art school graduate I also did the class critique. It's hard to grow if you're not told what to improve on, even though it can hurt to be told sometimes that your best wasn't good enough.

[@WobblesandBean]

@@EmperorZelos Exactly. I'm no longer a professional artist, but I still draw and paint as a hobby. It's utter BS that you should become emotionally detached from your work and stop caring about it. Without passion, art is soulless. I don't think this kid knows what he's talking about, and I can't imagine he's a good artist with that attitude towards creating a work of fiction or media. He can't write for shi†, either.

[@ryohoshi8445]

Slight, minor critique: What you're saying is very interesting and important and needs paragraph breaks to be a bit more readable and less intimidating, especially for the people who NEED it. The issues with critique is something I've noticed is pretty normal with anybody who is coming out from Tumblr and its descendent communities--the culture was extremely toxic, and it's worth noting that Tumblr to this very day has STILL not implemented anything even vaguely close to an effective option for blocking people. It's sometimes now necessary to say you really don't want critiques (not from randos, anyway) because you know that you're going to have some people turn up who cannot distinguish 'critique' from 'bullying' and deliver the latter. There's some people I've run across who say they want critique, but honestly legitimately don't because of how much they can't take even gentle criticism. But...there's a reason in writing that there's a saying of "kill your darlings." Sometimes it's phrased differently, but it's pretty stable in its meaning...

[@JustanotherGOOSE]

The moment where the abridged series has more stable plot, empathetic characters and chemestry between them, the definition of guardian, character growth and all unironically

[@booleah6357]

HGS: Who are you? I don't understand! Abridged version: I'm you but better.

[@handhelder823]

Wait, there is an abridged version of it?

[@Bloodjen]

@@handhelder823 GuardianHQ is making one, he also does reviews to vent out frustration from having to watch the show so much and needing to let off steam to continue making it xD

[@punchyboi6915]

Is HGS abridged a food?

[@JustanotherGOOSE]

@@punchyboi6915 damn I hope so

[@lowfn]

Out of curiosity, I went to the high guardian spice wiki to see what Sage's personality would be written as by fans. Surprisingly, under the relationship tab, they tried to argue that Rosemary was the jealous one of the two, and was in the wrong when it came to the halloween activities debacle. Sage is such a masterful villain because she isn't only good at gaslighting and manipulating her friends, but the audience as well. If I were the writer of this show that bungled up her character this badly, I would just say it was all intentional and watch as the accolades come in for writing such an effective manipulative villain. Also just wanted to say that I really enjoyed watching your videos on the show. This has probably been the best breakdown I've seen of High Guardian Spice, which is saying a lot considering the absurd volume of reviews there are for this show. I look forward to seeing whatever else you make in the future!

[@c-puff]

Thank you so much! Also if you want to see something interesting as well, check out what they list for Snapdragon under "personality"

[@Luizza_Oliveira]

I never hated a characters so much, I counted 3 or maybe 4 times that a random character had to apologize to Sage because she's always so f*cking perfect and sensible, ARRrGghHhU. It started with Thyme, and I like Thyme a lot cause she's an elf and the only poc character out of the main characters. The show's creators really protected Sage and were ready to make her a full Mary Sue, mastering Old and New magic at the same time in a very short time with everyone f*cking loving her for breathing :P By the end of the first season even Amaryllis has to start liking her in secret because... Sage is perfect and it's always right, so yeah...

[@xenotiic8356]

@@c-puff That was a trip... the weirdest part though is that the Wiki classifies Snap as a main character, but Amaryllis as a supporting character. I'm so confused x_x

[@teenageturtlefan8031]

It would've actually been kind of cool if they had realized this and leaned into it. Maybe to the point where, like Rose's mom, she ends up on the wrong side of things because of her toxic personality, idk

[@Graycata]

I think the wiki is going by what the story writers were trying to convey. In the same way they try to make Tyme the one in the wrong with the argument between Amaryllis and Sage in the earlier episode

[@CleverFoxStudios]

I had a friend like Sage once. Very affectionate, platonic friendship that devolved into time domination, manipulation, gaslighting and eventually, legit abuse of several sorts after i was twisted onto believing i loved them as more than a friend. I'm not friends with them anymore. Edit: also love the the double standard that's just consistent for her kind of character, that Rose cant even sneeze without her approval but Sage can go be with Snap and its definitely not mentioned at all how backhanded that is.

[@SoRePeSi]

I'm rewatching this and the part discussing the character of Parsley got me thinking: imagine if blacksmithing required a license you could only get at the guardian school, so all this time she'd technically been doing it illegally because her family desperately needed her help, and that's why she's studying there. But while she's out trying to get the license, the family's situation gets worse and worse because they have less hands, in a way that after the episode where they agree that she should keep studying, they have to go back on their word and beg her to return. Missed opportunities, man...

[@milleniumfrisbee]

Something I can't believe they didn't even attempt is blending magic with physical combat. Wasted potential considering spellswords are a great class that needs more representation.

[@c-puff]

They kinda did in the big finale as they have Mandrake construct magical swords, but NONE of the guardian characters ever do anything like this.

[@milleniumfrisbee]

@@c-puff True but that is more construct magic. What I think would have been great is a moment where Rose is fighting an ice giant or something and Sage is unable to use strong magic so one of them comes up with the idea to add fire element to Rose's sword. It's a common trope in RPGs such as Chrono Trigger, Bravely Default, Final Fantasy, and anime like Fairy Tail and Black Clover.

[@Crystalgate]

Adding magic to weapons could be Parsley's thing. It seems to me like a sensible progression that she wants to advance from blacksmithing to what's basically magic blacksmithing. This also has the benefit of it making for more sense that guardians learn how to enchant their equipment than just learning blacksmithing. She learns to first temporarily enchant weapons and armor like your idea of adding fire element to Rose's sword, and eventually advances towards making permanent magic arms and armor, like Rose's sword (not that it displays any kind of magic, but that's another problem). We could even use Parsley's desire to learn enchantment as a way for her to have something to do past chapter 4 instead of fading to obscurity.

[@milleniumfrisbee]

@@Crystalgate I thought the same thing! It would have improved her character greatly if say when she was a kid a mysterious stranger asked for a touch up of his sword and said sword was a masterwork sword with a simple enchantment. This event could cause her to see that her parents, while great in their own right, don't have all the answers and she goes to GA to learn blacksmithing master classes.

[@MrAuthor3DS]

@@c-puff Yeah, what even kind of magic is he using? A lot of his tricks don't seem to use terraspheres like New Magic, or glyphs like Old Magic. So...Newer Magic?? Iunno. If it's because he's some kind of powerful magical being, then it's a bit too late to introduce this concept into this season (like the Old/New merging trick), especially when the most that was foreshadowed about him was his name two episodes prior.

[@Eldoofus]

High Guardian Spice... a cartoon every story-writer should be able to criticize.

[@evagarcia865]

@No, that's wrong! the closest thing I ever made to art is a crappy OC when I was 6 I feel like I’m still qualified to shit on this show

[@CruelestChris]

It's like how NASA applicants are asked to critique the science in _Armageddon_ .

[@itaytv4425]

I'm currently writing a book and I'm using this show as a what not to do list

[@jamiekamihachi3135]

I thought you were crazy to say Parsley should be main character but you made a really compelling argument. You’re right that as the characters stand she is most equipped to hold the group together and main characters tend to be similar to her for this reason.

[@CMYKITSUNE]

ngl i'd see this work better as an indie show that'd be available in youtube or smth. it still wouldn't be the best show ever but it'd fit better than crunchyroll of all places

[@c-puff]

If it was straight to youtube it might have attracted and built up a loyal fanbase of teens and such. Again similar to RWBY I guess.

[@alabamaslammer3921]

On top of that, they should have focused on a younger audience and removed the swearing

[@lou9635]

It would have been criticed a lot anyway (because bad writting, incoherent world building, sexisme, boring story...) but clearly not as much. And they would have been more fans and supporters.

[@tyresewilson7399]

Sage: " Hey Rosemary! The last episode of Rings of Power is out! Want to go watch it now!" Rosemary: "Eeesh... sorry Sage, the show really not doing it for me. You can watch it without me." Sage: "...I thought you wanted to watch it together with me." Rosemary:"But it's soooo boring, Sage! Nothing happens, whole episode where guys bicker over nothing, the action is dull, Galadriel treats her sword like a toy... hey, it's a lot like our show! No wonder it's not working! Sage: "when did you become this annoying? You used to just like spending time with me! And you never, EVER criticized OUR show!"

[@immorttalis]

"Proudly non-union" tells everything about the studio that you need to know.

[@sigma5902]

Honestly I think Rosemary could have been the main character if it was all building up to one twist: She betrays everyone. What if it was established that Rose had a fatal flaw in her obsession over her mother's whereabouts, where she was willing to go against everyone's best interests so long as she gets information? You can have some hints where Rose's vows were about becoming a Guardian to find her mother, not protect other people. And during the carnival, maybe she's carrying something Sage lost back to her, or some other important errand item, but a fortune teller tells her in exchange for it she can tell her where her mother is. It's obviously a scam but Rose being unable to see that snd willing to betray her friends and maybe even her own best interests. It would explain why she seems so shallow as a character, because she is actively trying to just emulate everything about her mother and is so desperate over her loss that nothing else matters

[@ferrishthefish]

Just imagine if Parsley had dropped the tiny hammer on Astor's foot, causing more annoyance than injury, and the teacher had said, "Wow, miss. We need to have a word." It would be less out-of-character for Parsley (albeit still out-of-character), would give us a payoff of using a small tool, and wouldn't encourage subjecting a person to brutal violence in response to a minor insult.

[@leonryuko970]

Kinda just a thing I thought of, but at a magic school, with metallurgy as a class, maybe first years would focus on making actual weapons, but the second and third years would focus on making enchanted weapons? I think that could've fun, and would give a secondary reason that Parsley would've been bumped up to second or third year classes.

[@KrazyKoto]

I am two hours in and I have to say that I am really impressed with your style of essay and critique. I've watched dozens of Guardian Spice essays (Maybe for some kind of catharsis or to listen why so many people hate this show so much), but I don't think anyone has ever put in as much research as you have and applied your knowledge and sources to your constructive takes. It's really quite notable and I am enjoying your essay so far. Not only do I listen to why someone might not like the show, but I am being educated at the same time. Ontop of it all, your opinions aren't struck against the show. You admit when there are things you like about the show, even an episode that is not irredeemable. It's not such a black and white assessment and that is, frankly, refreshing.

[@c-puff]

Thank you so much! 💖 This is actually very valuable for me to hear because I'm always trying ti improve my video quality (I'm still new here and I learn slow lol). It also helps ,e know what works about my presentation or more specifically why. Because sometimes I worried I go on random side quests to often in videos to try and explain things 😭 Or that I might be boring the audience with info dumps just because I like this stuff. SO I really appreciate the compliments!

[@Dingobabee]

It's weird how at least in the first couple of episodes it would be really easy to read the school as an actual cult as more and more the kids aren't told anything about being high guardians and the weird way they were told to write out oaths but then immedietly told that, no, the ones triad have are correct and you should strive to mimic these specific oaths

[@RainyStast]

I completely agree that Snap being trans degrades their character arc and the world-building. They don't have any of the descriptions that they complained about, and then Carroway immediately went to "have you heard of being trans" rather than trying to address the larger problem. Being lesbian and openly trans is fine in this world, but dressing up as a mermaid (that's an actual race in the show and men are also canonically mermaids) and painting nails is looked down upon for men. Why are the gender roles so rigid for men (except for trans men in this show) but the women can do and wear literally anything they want to do, and only the strawmen of toxic masculinity will question them? Women can be as violent as they want, and that's fine. But let any of the men be anywhere near as violent and now they are the portrait of everything wrong with men. The show's double standards and rigid gender roles that only men are subject to are staggering. For instance, if we look at the diversity of the show. There are no gender non-conforming men or canonically gay/bi men in the show, but plenty of bi/lesbian and gnc women. You can almost say that Parnell is GNC, but I would refute that by saying he's acting like a typical 10-year-old and Steven universe in the first season acted the exact same way. This actively hurts Snapdragron's character and the worldbuilding because the hate he gets for dressing in a gender non-conforming way don't match with the "queer utopia" where everyone can be openly LGBT+ with no problems, and the show's rigid stereotypes of masculinity makes it seem less like Snap is trans and more like Snap has body dysmorphia and can learn that painting your nails or dressing up doesn't make you less than. Cal being cartoonishly bigoted to Snapdragon not only goes against the world building in several different ways, but also goes into "who was this show targeted towards?" Gender-non-conforming male characters are almost a staple in anime culture and no one cares if a guy paints his nails, dresses up, or wears makeup. Ambiguously gendered characters, effeminate men, and Bishonen men are so popular they show up in mainstream shonen and shojo since the 90s. So to then see this incredibly common character archetype be treated as if it's out of pocket, even when you take in the context of the world-building, it's just confusing and doesn't really make sense. Also Carroway (the one to one direct equivalent of Garnet but instead of fusion it's being trans) having to explain about transition magic and how it wears off every month, but they were LITERALLY HEADING OUT on a mission where you can just put on a ring and physically change your entire anatomy to breathe underwater and gain a tail and automatic seashell clothes. This doesn't make sense as first, why is transitioning from a human male to a human female more difficult and fickle than literally changing your entire anatomy to breathe and swim underwater forever. In this universe, changing into a mermaid or an animal can be permanent and need no further intervention once the initial spell is made/ initial ring is put on, but changing your sex is incredibly short-lived and not permanent so the show can make an allegory for HRT. Second, why would Snapdragon need this to be explained, clearly transitioning to a different race/species is common knowledge to the students, but changing your features isn't? TL;DR - The show was so close to having Snap's trans character arc make sense, but like a lot of the things in the show, it was mishandled and ended up infuriating and confusing the general audience.

[@templebeast1324]

Snapdragon is as muscular as tinker bell, hairy as a blobfish, has a voice as deep as a canary and has skin that a girl would be envious of. The fuck was he blabbing about?

[@Graycata]

Snapdragon struck me as someone who was questioning his likes and interests and how they didn't line up with this sudden gender associated thing that you pointed out, came out of almost nowhere.

[@80yearoldman98]

How dare you compare caraway to garnet ngl

[@echomikoart]

5 hour long essay on a show I wasted my time on watching? Count me in baby this is just what I've been looking for

[@asarishepard8171]

"making her apologize for saying the word yeah' is an apt description :P i love it.

[@jshadowhunter]

When the director came out and said that bad writing was a result of a bad budget... Yeah, the creator didn't have a leg to stand on.

[@user-fg4tn8ot6b]

Because the creator was the one who wrote the show? That hurts. 😬

[@mer_acle8101]

fanbased writers who write for free: Authors who write for free hoping they might get the opportunity to get published someday: bro writing ain't a money thing at heart. If you start writing just to earn money you're doing it wrong it's like being like I want to learn engineering, pay me good and I'll do a good job wtf

[@AtelierGod]

One thing about Sage’s mom in episode 4, she’s no hypocrite, she would only be one if she was still using new magic at that instant not in the past.

[@Graycata]

There are so many shows with parents that went through rebellious phase and desperately try to keep their child from a similar fate. Also shame back in the parents face, as if saying the child should also suffer similar consequences to similar actions

[@BlazingKhioneus]

Exactly! If she had a *phase* where she used new magic then went back after realizing it wasnt for her, then that's not hypocrisy. That's exploration and finding out what you are and arent comfortable with. Yknow, a tenet of the LGBT community? Being allowed to explore your identity without having to be shamed for it?

[@DelightfullyMADD]

No no, don't you understand?! If you ever were an alcoholic ever in your life but eventually managed to break the habit and rebuild your life... you can _NEVER_ criticize or warn anyone else of the dangers of alcohol abuse _EVER_ lest you be a hypocrite! The logic of this show in a nutshell

[@thantrus]

I love the term "bitchy trash gremlin" now. It sounds like such praise

[@macgyversmacbook1861]

I’m not gonna deny it but making the headmistresses the three forms of the Morrigan (who was important in magic according to the Irish Celts) aka the Maiden, the Mother/woman and the Crone/old woman is pretty clever for such a train wreck of a show

[@thomastakesatollforthedark2231]

And having a male counterpart in the triumvirate is a fun reflection

[@sophiahughes5355]

Too bad that the Mother/Maiden/Crone dynamic was actually invented by a guy in the 50s who's largely responsible for the resurgence of neopaganism and not actually a thing that is a motif in classic mythology.

[@thomastakesatollforthedark2231]

@@sophiahughes5355 Huh. Yes it is? Like, Hecate, Artemis and Hera and Hestia (bit stretchy i admit), the three fates, the three fates again but vikings this time, the Morrigan in the story of Cu Chulain at the very least... It goes somewhere.

[@sophiahughes5355]

@thomastakesatollforthedark2231 Hecate was never traditionally depicted as an old woman, so that example is missing a crone. And yes, the Morrigan is part of a triple goddess, but again that's missing the age component. It's a very frequent misconception, and one I used to believe in too until I dug further!

[@sophiahughes5355]

@@thomastakesatollforthedark2231 If you look up the triple goddess, it's a largely neopagan concept created by Robert Graves, not one that's millenia old! I think that it's fascinating to watch the birth of such a recent mythological concept and that all religions deserve respect. I'm just trying to clarify a common misunderstanding as a history and mythological buff

[@SqueeaakyB00ts]

To be honest, I’d understand from a business standpoint that crunchy roll wanted to create an independent animation department of their own. But MAAAAAANNN did they fumble the opportunity! The fact that not only they used member money to jumpstart the project *but continued to use membership subs to fund the projects poor foundation* just doesn’t sit well with me. It should have been an add on to the sites services independent of regular subscriptions, so funds aren’t funneled away from the animators they say they care about.

[@c-puff]

From all the criticism I've seen that seems to be the main one people had about this. Even the ones who complained it looks like a Cartoon Network show only said so because they "paid for anime". Netflix funds cartoons AND anime and they get out shows like Cyberpunk Edgerunners, Castlevania and Beastars...

[@PutineluAlin]

Not even that if they did a What a Cartoon!, a series of short 6 minute cartoons to prove a concept of a show it would have gone way better than to try to make their own animation season 1 show.

[@realdavestrider]

4:06:16 in raye's "meet the artist" image not only did he manage to somehow put "feminism" and "filthy frank" in the same category, but he also put "bad cartoons" as something he dislikes, foreshadowing on a whole nother level fr

[@noirlavender6409]

Finally, the best anime ever gets a good, short and complete review

[@redrasegarden]

How many blood vessels popped?

[@lbelypokelbely1137]

Pretty sure that Zinna or whatever her name is spelled, the girl who chickened out from dying in a cave was the same one that nearly got eaten by a plant lol

[@MmeCShadow]

I think the reason the violence is so abrupt and over the top is that HGS was, in fact, meant to be a children's show. You can still see this in the overall production, with the saturated colors, the simplistic character designs, straightforward dialogue, the setting being the first year at a boarding school, and the background music and cues. Raye is, I believe, on the record saying that HGS was pitched for younger audiences but was forced to age it up by Crunchyroll to fit *their* target demographic better, so a few naughty words, adult jokes, and some excess violence were slapped into a few scenes to justify the 'mature audiences' tag. While the production crew were obviously inexperienced, I think this disparity was a huge contributing factor to why the show feels so off on a fundamental level, even ignoring the technical aspects. If it were clear this was meant to appeal to a younger demographic then the bad jokes and on the nose writing and lessons suddenly make a lot more sense. And I wonder if, looking at it from that angle, might it have had a better chance of accomplishing it's goals? I don't think it would have ever been stellar (these are the writers who never bothered to explain what a High Guardian even is, after all), but the way some scenes are cued up really gives me a Saturday morning cartoon vibe and maybe there's another timeline where HGS wasn't told to 'age up' and was just a silly episodic kid's show in a quirky magical school. It would need more adjustments beyond removing the blood but maybe if the order hadn't come down the way it did pre-production would have gone differently. I dunno. Just seems to me that this identity crisis is probably the crux of a lot of bizarre decisions and probably in no small part responsible for the mismanagement of resources; if you were expecting to tell one type of story and then told afterward it was another you might find yourself scrambling to course-correct. Ultimately, while HGS is bad, it's not really bad in a way that deserves hate. I feel kind of sorry for it. With the right guidance there's no reason it couldn't have been fun.

[@TheOriginalScribbleStudios]

Parsley carried this show and it sucked bc you shouldn't have only one of the main characters be likeable. But that episode where her parents wanted her to quit school, that was a great plot and it got solved so lazily and quickly wtf and then we have Thyme and her problems that are simply addressed then just as quickly put to bed

[@thealexellucas]

This show really is a prime example of why show don’t tell is important.

[@catboysephiroth560]

Teeny tiny impossibly small nitpick: Snapdragon is displaying body dysphoria, not body dysmorphia. Dysmorphia is "my x body part is fucked up and oh god its ugly and not normal, I need to fix it", whereas body dysphoria is "x body part does not feel like mine, I don't like that it's there, I need to hide it/pretend it isn't there". I really love that you brought it up though, I really don't like how HGS portrays the trans experience as ONLY dysphoria and discomfort. It's a very narrow, even shallow view of gender and gender identity. No two trans people have the same experience, and not all trans people transition exclusively because of body/gender dysphoria. Cisgender people experience dysphoria. Cisgender WOMEN experience it all the damn time, even. A lot of other reviews praised Snapdragon's story, and it never sat quite right with me, as a trans person myself, and you managed to kind of articulate why it bothered me. While it's not outright said "Snapdragon, you need to transition to be happy", we the audience are expected to believe this is the only outcome for her, when it doesn't have to be. Snapdragon can just be genderqueer, or nonconforming. Or maybe Snap IS a binary trans woman who also embraces her masculinity. We do see that Snap is insecure of her masculinity, as evidenced by her beating up whatshisdick, but insecurity of one's masculinity/femininity doesn't automatically translate to the Big Trans, which seems to be the message that the show wants to send. HGS doesn't really allow their characters to have breathing space to be people, and the characters are shittier because of it. This "show" suffers from somehow being wishy-washy AND strictly black-and-white at the same time and it's a waste of time and resources. Apologies for the word vomit rant. -a very tired transmasc

[@c-puff]

Ah thanks for correction! I'm not always a 100% sure of the terms but also I kept calling Lyngarth "Lynburg" at the start so I clearly need to get better at making sure I'm using the right word and not just going "Yeah that sounds correct". And thanks for giving a little more perspective on this :) many people have said they think it would have been much better if Snap was written as a cis boy who finds himself liking feminine things a lot more than masculine things and that he should be allowed to be feminine without people telling him it makes him gay or trans. But I agree. This show, for supposedly being very progressive in its goals, is EXTREMELY stuck in the gender binary, not even with how the characters identify, but also in its thinking that "girls behave like THIS and boys behave like THIS and if you're a boy who acts differently you must be trans." I don't want to speculate why the trans writers were so unwilling to allow Snap to explore other possibilities too much because I have a habit of reading too much into things like that when the answer is sometimes simply "they didn't think it through." Especially with this show.

[@catboysephiroth560]

@@c-puff Thank you for treating the subject with such respect regardless! And lol, I was also 100% certain the fantasy city was called Lynburg/Lyndburg as well, it's not exactly a memorable name. Nobody can fault you for that. And I agree!!! Having the strict binary imposed on all the characters made all the males that showed up look bad, and the female characters are given this weird pass to do whatever. The girls always end up being "correct", if that makes sense. The antagonistic portrayal of cis men and the way only the women and trans man(singular) were moralized in the show really bothered me. All the other major cis males in the show were automatically evil. Kal(?), Mandrake, that fiery demon fart, the evil trio, Aster. Sage outright says that men are incapable of deep bonds or emotions. Demonizing masculinity at it's finest. I personally think that Snapdragon was written as a trans woman for the same reason a lot of queer rep in media is lesbians and queer women: hypervisibility. Trans women and femmes are the most visible part of the trans community, so making a character a trans female/femme gets them those sweet sweet Gay Karma Points. It's easier to make a trans person in your show that is a trans female/femme because people are most familiar with them, it appeals to a shock factor as well, I think. NB and transmasc people like myself are taken less seriously, and are often not even talked about. TBH I really wanted to see myself in Snapdragon- even though I'm transitioning to a different gender, I would have loved to see at least a genderqueer male who becomes comfortable with femininity. I myself could not stand pink and more traditionally feminine things before I began my transition, it felt performative and it gave me major major dysphoria. But now that I have recognized myself as a man, I enjoy pink and cute "girly" things. I have silly little cat eared hats and chokers and stockings, I wear pink and purple, I buy clothing from whatever section I please if it looks cool or cute. Hell, my favorite shirt I own is a pink "Game Boy" shirt. And it doesn't interfere nor detract from my masculine identity but compliments it. Snapdragon's story arc, while not inherently horribly written or evil, only represents and appeals to a tiny fraction of the trans community: white, binary, trans wlw. She is pretty much as cookie cutter as you can get and that makes me sad.

[@diegoyanez1868]

I feel like that's more an issue of how little time they had to cover Snap's whole deal, combined with the sloppiness of the execution. Not to give the showrunners *too* much credit, but they probably would've given it a bit more nuance if they had the time, since it's clearly something they *wanted* to explore, but maybe didn't figure out where to do it before it was too late and they said "FUCK IT, now or never."

[@artforz]

@@diegoyanez1868 "it's clearly something they wanted to explore" Is it? Or was it another mandate from marketing they "complied" with with the least effort possible?

[@mer_acle8101]

you make some really good points. I felt like Snapdragon didn't read as binary trans with what the show gave them, and so being like hey you can transition btw, while in a magic universe isn't really a problem, in the real world, well, it's not like a transition is not an invasive procedure. Not demonizing it at all, I am all for using that option if you need to bc I realize it works for binary trans people. However, since Snap is at the complete beginning of their self-discovery, they probably should start by experimenting with self-expression and figuring themselves out before jumping to what you so nicely called The Big Trans. I realize it's very difficult to simultaneously have genderqueer discussions while also ideally saying "you can wear as much pink as you want and it doesn't make you any less of a man" but the show was like eh what is nuance XD

[@indigokozy9251]

Watching your videos and rethinking my thoughts on the show as a result, I've finally come to what I think is my most pointed criticism of High Guardian Spice. That being that, despite the show's flaunting of its progressive values, High Guardian Spice has traditional views on gender and gender roles. In the show, we see that Snapdragon doesn't fit in with her masculine family, she looks feminine and she's mistaken for a woman and we're supposed to see these as examples of her being transgender before the reveal that happened on twitter. The boisterous Rosemary, however, even after speaking to Professor Caraway, doesn't wonder if she might prefer to be a man. Despite how many female characters are in the show, none of them are seen to question their gender identity. The women are confident of their identity while the effeminate man isn't and it reminds me of the whole "this man is bad at being a man therefore they are a woman" mindset. Just with a trans-positive spin. The shows' spectrum of gender expression is much wider for the girls than it is for the boys. Much like how it is in real life. I also see this problem with Sage. She says that the bonds between women are just deeper. But we see no explanation for why she would believe this. It's taken as a given. In addition, there are no true female antagonists in this majority female cast. Astor, Cal, pink-haired guy they're all unquestionably bad people. But Olive and Amaryllis have something good within them deep down. Even Rosebud shows empathy after the death of the dragon and this reflects badly on Professor Caraway. Because it makes it appear as though he's only a good person because he used to be a woman. It all shows the rigid concept of gender that HGS has. While I do think that more diversity in the writer's room might have helped these issues a little. I think that the main problem would have still been there. That problem being essentialism. The idea that categories of people have traits that are inherent and not just culturally developed associations that aren't based in fact. So, even if the show was well-written, the essentialism would have been its achilles heel.

[@azurai3934]

I don't think Rosemary ever questioned her identity at all, but rather Caraway explained what happened after she found out he used to identify as female.

[@RainyStast]

THIS EXACTLY. The show tries to paint Snap as "always having trans feelings" because they are "non-confrontational", "are weaker", and "isn't ok with toxic masculity or overinflated masculinity stereotypes", which no. The show seems to have the logic of "girls can break all of the gender roles that they want." Women are warriors, powerful spellcasters, who slice things open with axes and shoot monsters with arrows. But then turns around with "since snap doesn't want to be super violent and wants to have slender wrists and be weak, guess they're trans because that's not the qualities REAL boys have." The show will continue to refuse to pick a lane on where it stands in gender roles so the character arcs swerve all over the pavement.

[@this_Kwazicat]

I can be cancelled on Twitter but I would really like Snap being a feminine boy, while TYME being a trans character! I think that she would be perfect in this tbh. They even could connect over Snap wanting to be more feminine with Thyme having the knowledge about how a biological male can get more feminine without using new magic ( For example)

[@lou9635]

And can we talk about the fact that the only other effiminate man in the show is Parnel? And that they are in fact non-binary since a man can't be sensible? And that the last four good man (the two professors, slimeboy, Rosemary's father and brother) in the show are manly man who are only to support the women in the show? And that they are not even secondary characters? And that there is Slimeboy who is a selfinsert of his voice actor who doesn't identify as straight? So yeah. If you analyze the show, you can't be a man if you are not manly with big muscles and act like a badass.

[@Graycata]

I dont have a Twitter. Did they actually come out and say Snapdragon is (or will be) Trans?

[@flagger1067]

Sage annoys me to hell, but I genuinely think her strugle with “old vs new” magic could be a powerful character development point. Lets imagine that Sage only does old magic not only because of her family’s tradition, but because she believes in It’s philosophy (basicaly for her principles). But since It’s more inefective compared to new magic, almost everyone uses only the new, or a mixture of both with the new being used 80% of the time. Now everyone in Sage’s grade uses new magic except for her, which makes her a target of bullying by her piers purely by the fact that she uses old magic. (I believe this would make us sympathize with her more since shes being mistreated purely for what she believes in) Then in that scene of the flower, we would see her doing her best but not being as effective as her classmates, which makes the purple haired girl (in this instance her bully) mistreat her and force her into a corner to use new magic. Sage almost gives in from all the bullying but Time (the elf) interveenes and stands up to Sage, making them grow closer as friends (instead of being basicaly guilted to do so like the original by Sage’s fits) Sometimes, making a character struggle to succeed makes us feel for them, even If their personalities are not the brightest (instead of trowing a tantrum whenever someone doesn’t agree with you, which just makes you a demanding b!tch) Sorry for the rant, Sage is frustrating..

[@nickkelley9139]

Here's something they could have done with Rosemary: Have her want to become a Guardian for two reasons, both relating to her mother: 1) Wanting to honor her mother's memory by following in her footsteps, perhaps even have it shown that her mother trained her in the ways of the sword at a young age so that it feels like she's finishing what she started with her mother. 2) Wanting to find out what happened to her mother for the sake of closure since the details surrounding her disappearance are foggy.

[@dustyrose192]

Perhaps her dad stops all convosavastion about her mom? And perhaps theres a difference between how Lavender treats her children, treating her son poorly becasue he reminds her of her brother (who is mandrake)

[@ferrishthefish]

The second option is probably what they were going for, but the problem is that Rosemary has seemingly done absolutely nothing else to find her mother. If your mother ever goes missing, should you: A) Call the police, or B) Wait 4 years until you are old enough to enroll in the police academy, spend another 3 years graduating, then another 5-10 years to rise up through the ranks, and finally open an investigation into your missing mom.

[@ZorotheGallade]

If I had a cookie for every show, video game or other story that begins with "I want to become a [X]" without ever explaining why becoming a [X] is a good thing, I'd be long dead from diabetes.

[@Graycata]

There's really nothing to support it, but I got the vibe that Rose's motivation leaned towards the second reason

[@Inky-Wells]

Do I need to remind anybody that Rose's mom is missing and she's sad about it? ...I didn't think so. Jokes aside, while I've never watched HGS myself - and have no intention of doing so - I will agree when saying that this show did have potential. Looking back on each review you've made, there was a lot that could've been done to make it interesting and unique (such as an explanation to the difference between Old Magic and New Magic). It's just a shame that it ended up becoming a parody of itself that sets an emotionally manipulative character up on a pedestal.

[@quincyjones5676]

Honestly this show has gotten so much press if I was Raye I’d capitalize on it and redo the show but at a better studio or with better people that know what they are doing and it could actually be a good show. Learn from the mistakes of the previous show.

[@Inky-Wells]

@@quincyjones5676 that's actually pretty clever, now that I think about it. But unfortunately, I highly doubt Raye will ever even put that idea into consideration (if his defense of the show is anything to say). Don't get me, I don't hate the guy for the product he put out. I don't hate anyone... EVER. I just wish that he could be open to actual constructive criticism instead of brushing it all off as hatred because of the "budget".

[@misuvittupaa8068]

Snap is edgy

[@kemiandthemachine]

@@quincyjones5676 That's not really up to him, though. Even if he wanted to remake the show (which I doubt he would with how much bad press it has), no studio would accept his pitch because of how badly it went the first time. Unless he funds a remake independently, this will never happen, which is definitely for the best. Lingering on a failed project and trying to fix and remake it is not a good idea, especially since this was his first project. It's best to move on to something else and use what he's learned from HGS to make something new and hopefully better.

[@quincyjones5676]

@@Inky-Wells Yea you’re most likely right. I’ve met Raye while working on the show and he probably didn’t take the heat well. Honestly most of the issues that came with this show was because of the studio head mismanaging. She literally set that studio on fire then left and is doing the same thing on invincibles 🤦🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️

[@TheAnonyomusGuy]

It's really weird how in a lot of shows like this anymore they'll say that bullying is wrong but but they also have a problem with the concept of self defense

[@cheatcode436]

Just like regular schools.

[@kittydagger9434]

Hey, that's a great story idea. Make it illegal to defend yourself, and get in trouble and omost expelled, but to fight the legal laws, and what happens if you don't defend yourself. Makeing you the Audience Question along with them, about the idiocy of that law. It shows that things need to change and the younger generation won't stand for it. And them going through those who are in charge, fighting a constant battle throughout the show, then fighting it alongside what is happening in the main story line. Whatever it was.

[@kotrena]

The amount of research that went into this video is INSANE. And by far it's the best essay on HGS I've seen. Thank you so much for your hard work!

[@castaliafierce8466]

Man, this show could have been something. Maybe not a masterpiece, but it had the potential to be a competent product at least on a fundamental level...

[@HamiltonIsLife]

It could’ve sucked the way Voltron sucked but I loved Voltron

[@KeybladeMasterAndy]

Sage being an almost unapologetic misandrist for about 5 minutes is fun to talk about.

[@PetitTasdeBoue]

For the girl in episode 7, someone must have said it by now but she's also the student getting almost killed during the botanic class I think ? So it's basically a punching bag character they dropped for some reason

[@mer_acle8101]

she probably put her foot down and noped out of the show XD good for her honestly

[@rebelturtle7494]

I relate to the warped attachment. Watching these essays a year later makes me really appreciate the people who build on the potential the show had

[@austinmiller2170]

"Alkali burns just as well as acid." Best analogy I've heard for this type of thing, I'll have to remember that. Edit: I just realized this video is 5 hours long. I'll have to get back to this one.

[@thanetothefalseking332]

Just engagin’ with the content here, Barnes.

[@Numatruehome]

They failed upward with amerillous, I feel like she’s suppose to be the bully friend, but they confused what bullies actually are and instead just made her honest, confident, high energy, and just very fun. Whenever she says something to the cast to counterpoint, it doesn’t sound like she has a hint of malice about it, she’s just genuinely putting a valid point out. We are honestly suppose to be rooting against her? Yeah right, she has luffy level’s of charisma and energy, straight forward and never minces words like nami. Then they gave her the absolute love for combat and revealed she’s a mad gremlin with an axe is just 🥰👌🏾

[@michaelbarker6732]

This show really does perpetuate using violence to solve your problems as long as you think you are in the right. Out of all the garbage this is the one thing that is genuinely deplorable.

[@CruelestChris]

And yet it's wrong for your father to want to teach you to stand up for yourself.

[@michaelbarker6732]

@@CruelestChris well you see the thing with that is that men can never be in the right

[@shieru2207]

Describing shipping as "slapping Barbies made out of tropes together" is genius, and I'm totally gonna steal that and integrate it into my vocabulary.

[@DarkLiger]

Not sure if it counts are irony, but I find it funny that if a male character acted the same way Sage does toward Rosemary, that character would earn the unbridled hatred of the HGS writing team.

[@cheatcode436]

Kate Leth would be throwing a fit on the floor if that happened.

[@DarkLiger]

@@cheatcode436 Be entertaining to watch

[@Taygon45]

What is Parsley's conflict was that she didn't much care for blacksmithing and the blacksmith teacher was impressed and wanted to advance her to the next grade. Maybe even skip two and she fervently denies it, saying things like "But what about my fwends?!" and her parents were saying "Why do you need to go to school?! You're already a master blacksmith!" And she's shown to be trying her best in the combat classes, but isn't all that good. And it's implied that if she accelerated to the later years she wouldn't be able to take the more advanced combat classes. Then finally it comes to a head when she finally blows up saying "I wanna actually use the weapons I make!" and her parents have the pin drop for them and turn around to support her in actually being a warrior, even though she has a ways to go.

[@d.j.mulcahy1657]

When thinking about Rosemary and why she fails as a character, I realized something. She’s the only character in the show who’s story doesn’t reflect the main theme. When looking at everyone else, they all seem to tie in with the theme of tradition Vs progress and generational divides. This is especially in regards to children seeking to not follow in the traditions of their parents. The examples include Sage and her mother, Parsley and her parents, Thyme and her mom, Snapdragon and his dad, etc. Meanwhile, Rosemary, the main character, has an arc that revolves around embracing the same traditions of her mother and paying tribute to the past. So not only is Rosemary not connected to the story, but she’s not even connected to the closest thing this show has to a theme.

[@WobblesandBean]

I find it really interesting that you take Rose's side during the festival argument, cuz everyone else I've seen talk about this show feels the opposite. I mean, let's be honest, Rose IS being super rude and dismissive, and Sage doesn't clap back until Rose straight up insults her. Plus, earlier in the episode she'd agreed to do things together with Sage, especially the pumpkin carving contest. Then she reneges and acts like a bi†¢h completely out of nowhere. I think the main takeaway here is that they're both objectively horrible characters.

[@lou9635]

I agree, but there is three major differences between Rose and Sage that make most of us on Rose's side: 1- We don't know if Sage told Rose what she wanted to do or if they just agree to be together without talking about what activities that include. 2- Sage had already being manipulative toward Thyme and with the magic arc in general. 3- And most importantly: Rose acted like always she did. Even if we found Rose annoying at the start, Sage doesn't. And since nothing changed, Sage being suddenly annoyed makes no sense and we search à reason. In conclusion, if the majority is with Sage, it's because the show had focus on her more so she suffered from the bad writting the most. But in general, you are right: they both are horrible person in this scenes.

[@Graycata]

This whole conflict came off as extremely manufactured. It was difficult to even take a side, at least for me. Tha t being said, I do sideR withRosemaryfor the reasons @lou9635 stated

[@DoodleFoxxy]

Ya know....that episode with the test really bugged me. Why did the teacher try to give Parsley the trophy anyway?? Purnell was the one who solved the obstacles courses. She just followed him. What points did she earn??

[@c-puff]

Main character points.

[@MrAuthor3DS]

Apparently, demolishing training dummies prior to the actual exercise counted to the score. It's...contrived. Like, way too contrived. This was all rigged out of nowhere so Parsley would have a "justifiable" excuse to attack Aster. Hell, that big gaudy trophy is WASTED on a mere training exercise. Barely a thing about this makes a lick of sense! Seriously, the only thing I liked about the exercise is how Hakone paired the students - if only because it foils Sage's bitchy attempt to make Rosemary more likely to be her partner.

[@amandabarrow8094]

​@@c-puff What is the name of the "travel music" at 20:46, if you don't mind? 😊

[@munnybunnyummy4332]

​@@amandabarrow8094on shore - keiko han

[@Lycaon1765]

Very old comment but I have an answer: he said in the episode that he started counting at the BEGINNING of class. So all that time they were in this class but before the obstacle course was also counted, and thus presumably she did good on her warm ups and better than Parnell.

[@Z.A.N.E]

You know, I don't really feel like talking about HGS considering I just finished a 5 hour video analysis on it- I really just want to say that not only do I enjoy your humour, but I think you did an excellent job putting this all together- I definitely wanna stick around!

[@TheWaterEater760]

if I had the opportunity like rey did I would go straight home and after the spasm of pure happiness I would be writing drafts of the first episode and getting the world building and the character's and designing what kind of series I wanted this to be even if 80% is never gonna go past pre production. now I am not saying that I would do a better job writing wise or management wise but at least I hope that I could show myself in the creation and tell my own story.

[@reynardfox6135]

To be honest, I found it odd in episode 6 where Rosemary, the loud, clumsy idiot, who was the only one to have trouble rounding up the baby dragon, suddenly became more competent so they could have a sexism episode. As many people pointed out before, Aster is also kind of dumb and klutzy and incompetent like Rosemary. I would have really liked it if Rosemary stopped crushing on him in the end, but instead found kinship in how similar they were, or something like that. I would have liked them to become pretty good friends, and become the idiot duo who smashes stuff together, and while completing the maze, they just decide to destroy everything like amaryllis was doing, and despite thinking they finished first, end up coming in last.

[@Graycata]

Those two being idiots together gives me serious Sokka and Aang vibes. I love it

[@trexmarkus]

I got some advice from my professor when writing a fantasy world. If it has a magic system, you need to figure out the rules. Because the rules of the magic will determine how people interact with each other and can influence the history of your world. It's very important to understand your magic system before starting with the world. And only after that, can you move to the world, the history of nations and races, cultures, creatures, etc. Because I like to think of it like D&D, there are rules to use it and how it works. Sticking with that can create interesting worlds and how your character interact with the world.

[@florafangs7664]

I have a love hate relationship with this show for your exact reason in the end, I can SEE that somewhere deep in this show was a chance at being good, it had so much potential personally to me but so much went wrong (as you said the building blocks were there) I don't see a season 2 in this shows future, but if it was ever given one I deeply hope the creator takes the actual constructive criticism into consideration, but a lot of the characters, plot points and pacing just feel so muddled.

[@pari1405]

The idea of Sage being a twist villan is getting my wheels turning It's a good idea maybe I can use it in some way for my rewrite... Man I feel like I would completely change this story

[@naolucillerandom5280]

I'm midway through the video, and I'm impressed. I had heard people saying Sage was annoying, but I had never seen her behaviour analyzed like this :0

[@LWolf12]

Ship baiting is daytime TV Soap Opera levels of writing.

[@JustSomeDude42]

I just kinda noticed the way sage’s tone, at least to me, on a level of anxiety and fear that mirrors the way characters who have abusive people who control them kind of freak out. Probs just reaching, but that’s how the way she spoke rubbed me.

[@lou9635]

And the fact that she's way too confrontontional for someone with anxiety

[@lexyshannon9428]

@@lou9635 sometimes people with Anxiety can become easily flustered or overly-defensive when it comes to oppositional views or criticism as a defense mechanism to cover up a sort of flaw or insecurity and "protect" themselves and/or their image. Sage definitely does this in a way thats ultimately harmful to her relationships and connections with others, which has negative impacts on those people as well. In a way, I think she does it unintentionally as a defense mechanism, but isn't mindful or self-aware enough of how this behavior may push others away and leave her isolated. If she were a person in real life, I'd honestly say that she needs to focus on mindfulness and awareness of her actions, and practice identifying her feelings and how she reacts to them in different situations in order to learn to manage and regulate her actions in a healthier way as she goes. Practicing healthy advocation and expression of thoughts and feelings through communication would also be another really important base for her to cover after she learns to recognize her own pattern of behavior. Of course, that would also only be so effective if she refused change at all... which in that case yeah she's basically digging her own grave without realizing it. (Sorry for the ramble, I just love psychology and analyzing characters!)

[@VoidWalkerOblivion]

I saw some reviews and short videos of HGS before I actually watched the show... and I genuinely went in thinking that Amaryllis and Olive were the same character. The two have similar character silhouettes, they're both powerful New Magic users from witch-country, and I could tell from Olive's design that she was a 'I transform' type being. I didn't realise the Halloween episode was in the final quarter instead of episode 6 to mark the half-way turning point (and that it came after the mermaid episode, btw). I assumed Olive would be introduced much earlier, and that the big twist was that her alter-ego infiltrating the school was Amaryllis. I thought it was her becoming genuine friends with Snapdragon (and therefore the herb buddies) through her alter-identity that would lead to her change of heart. (well, either that or it would be revealed Amaryllis actually had no natural magic 'potential' despite coming from literal witch-country, and a part of her conflict with Sage was because without new magic Amaryllis could not use magic at all and that's a part of why she's so bitey about it. Thereby evolving us from "hurrhurr technology is bad" to "perhaps there are side effects, but technology exists to *uplift* people and their quality of life. Have an actual ethical conflict") Boy was I disappointed.

[@MrAuthor3DS]

{delighted gasp} I didn't even consider the angle of a magically-handicapped Amaryllis! That would really flesh out hers and Sage's rivalry.

[@VoidWalkerOblivion]

@@MrAuthor3DS I know! isn't a wonderful possibility? Look at that *complexity*!

[@BroadwayMistress]

I absolutely love how you focus in on the character/plot issue using Rumiko Takahashi as an example. It helped me realize a big issue in my own writing, and it is a perfect analogy that hopefully will help the creators too.

[@puzzlefade]

Found your channel through the Velma deep dives and got inspired to watch this whole video. I really love your style of breaking down these shows and talking about all aspects rather than just blindly shitting on them. Definitely interested in seeing more of your long-form content like this, and more in the future!

[@MrAuthor3DS]

So...here's some things I want to personally keep in mind for a rewrite: *Rosemary:* First thing's first: she should be the type who's willing to help anyone with whatever, following her mother's example as a Guardian. Her drive to tackle more dangerous things, and a growing habit of not holding back, could eventually come to a head with Sage calling out her lack of responsibility. Magic skill: physical buffs for herself or others, and the power to absorb ranged energy. *Sage:* Her goal from early on should be studying a way to make Old and New Magic more compatible with each other. Also, she should gradually become more mature, as she feels that as future Guardians, they can't afford to act so childishly anymore. This should hopefully subvert any abusive yandere habits...A-Anyway! Magic skill: ranged shots and versatile barriers, whose properties could be augmented as she perfects her Old-and-New-fusing. *Parsley:* Her emotional stability should be shown off more, I think. Even if that means she takes on a lot of active supporting roles, it could still give her more to do. Magic skill: fire and earth manipulation, usually for defensive techniques. *Thyme:* She really should work up the courage to get others to help her with the Rot crisis. Actually, her deal could just be the kind of anxiety one has with strangers. Magic skill: plant manipulation and arrow magic that channels different potions. *Amaryllis:* There are hints of a story where Ryll doesn't want to be alone, even if she doesn't want anything to do with her neglectful parents. That oughta be focused on more. Magic skill: ranged shots of varying sizes and impacts. *Snapdragon:* I won't say too much on whether she should be a trans girl or a GNC boy...But I will say this: what if Snap wanted to follow her father's noble ideals (this would be made more apparent in the rewrite), but worries she might not match up with his figure? She could eventually learn that physicality isn't everything when it comes to following the same ideals. Also...what if she was a dragonborn? Hey, they lifted several other DnD races, why stop? Magic skill: speed enhancement and healing. ...That's just for the main six. I do have other ideas for High Guardian Academy and the Triumvirate's cabal - fixing the faculty's faulty behaviors and curricula, and giving a singular source to things like the Rot, Olive, Smoke Face, and Mandrake.

[@TennoWolf]

The only thing I'd change about your amaryllis rewrite is to give her a focus on AoE offensive magic and elemental weapon enchantments given her more agro focused fighting style.

[@xanderxalamander9492]

I would like to add an idea i had for the Triumvirate/Rot problem. While new magic is stated to never have a cost, the scene where Thyme is looking at a picture of the rot while they say this implies they are related (even if it is not cannon) What if the groupe find out that the rot on the tree is only a small offshoot of something far bigger, eventually finding a giagantic rot-tumor-thing directly under the school. They piece together that the massive use of new magic within the school has resulted in the rot forming and growing, which is the actual cost of new magic. If we follow an idea like this, the Triumvirate could be rewritten as not being the source of the rot, but mearly trying to cover up the connection between new magic and the rot. Since the Triumvirate are stated to be the rich elite of witch country, they are likely involved with the industry around terraspheres and other new-magic stuff. This would make it a kind of parallel to climate change, with large oil companies (Trimvirate) trying to downplay the effects that fossil fuels (new magic) have on climate change (Rot). This may not be the best way to handle it, but it would be a way to both solve the magic system issues and make the plot actually make sense. It would also boost both Sage and Thyme in terms of character potential, since Sage is very invested in the differences between old magic and new magic and Thyme is concerned with the Rot and is actually trying to move the plot foreword. Again, this is just an idea that i had. Feel free to steal this idea for a rewrite if you want.

[@DespairDoctor]

Not to mention Parsley could have easily just given the trophy to Parnell.

[@theslavscav]

I really wonder how the show staff managed to unintentionally write Sage as a possessive narcissist. That doesn't seem like something you can do by accident

[@quincyjones5676]

I’m not sure what shows have 1 or two board artists but every show I’ve worked on has had like 4-5 and maybe a freelancer and the director will take a few pages. But I’ve worked on heavy action shows where there were multiple characters. I do remember getting notes for the same damn scenes 5 times I swear this show was a f’ing hot mess. Lol.

[@c-puff]

Ah that makes sense! I would guess action shows would have boarders who specialise in the action scenes themselves. I want the show I worked on to RELEASE ALREADY so I can check how many boarders it had too since that was info I wasn't privy to during production.

[@quincyjones5676]

@@c-puff I’m sure your shoe still won’t have as many as this one had lmaooooo.

[@acelineace9455]

4:15:55 noticed how Snap now paint her nails, and it does match with Amerylist's. Man those two... (Everything else eff off.)

[@sofiadragon6520]

"To be fair if my dorm at school came with free cats I wouldn't question it too much either." Yes! True statement, this is relatable worldbuilding. Just cats that belong to the dorm building and hang out with whoever lets them into their room. Mascot pets, all spayed or neutered with shots taken care of by maintenance staff (well paid for their time) doing the good work of making sure all those messy dorm rooms don't attract mice/rats. They also eat spiders and all sorts of crawly things. Just no outdoors, they can lick up the trail of ants marching to **that guy's room** but songbirds eat mosquitoes so we want those kitties indoors. ❤ 🐈

[@bah2857]

watched this over the span of 3 days. amazing in depth analysis! one small thing that irked me about High Guardian Spice is how similar Mandrake's design is to Chicory's (Rosemary's brother in case anyone forgot), it was the first thing that grabbed my attention, especially the hair. some part of me wants to believe that's how he would have tied into the second season relating to Lavender but I know in my heart it was probably just coincidence.

[@KelShu]

If there were other students that specialize in Old Magic why was Sage treated like the only student that used it, why couldn't she just reach out to those students, why were they primarily teaching with New Magic if Old Magic was always an option?

[@OWnIshiiTrolling]

The worst thing about the show is that it's not just complete garbage. Watching potentially good ideas go nowhere is incredibly frustrating. Scuffed animation and somewhat scuffed voice acting can be forgiven, if the writers know what they are doing with the characters and plot. The writers did not know what they were doing with the characters and plot. I want a second season, where the entire staff get their shit together and make it good.

[@gurdimeikenskjaldi5060]

also great respect about RE:Creators, a show that deserves waaaaaay more attention and love that what it got

[@elenacottica386]

Just got a lot of respect for the effort you put into this video

[@lampollo]

Guess who binged the entire show yesterday specifically to watch reviews of it! Help me :)

[@c-puff]

Oh nooooo 😂

[@fandemusique4693]

@@c-puff you talking of Chicory's design made me remember then he is the one looking most like his and Rose's mother. This fact make his non developpement really sad/obnoxious.

[@eldritchabomination9726]

@@fandemusique4693 wait, he has a name!?

[@ElysianArchives]

I didn't even watch the show lmao, I already got a grasp of everything about it through these reviews and they're far more entertaining than sitting through this sad excuse of a cartoon. Usually I have a niche for simple and childlike fantasy settings but this...this just ain't it.

[@quincyjones5676]

Great you’re making the studios think they did a good thing cuz ur watching it 😑